MAY 3, 2020
ORDINARY FORM (ENGLISH) MASS
Today is Good Shepherd Sunday.
The Fourth Sunday of Easter is always a reading about Jesus as the Good Shepherd. This is also the World Day of Prayer for Vocations.
Regarding vocations, everyone has a vocation. Vocation comes from the Latin word vocare which can mean - “to call” or “to be called.” All of us who are baptized are called to service in the Church and in the world ... each in different ways ... and in different modes.
The call I know best is my own, and so I’ll tell my story.
I’ve been ordained a priest almost 11 years.
I started this chapter in my life nearly 20 years ago. So you can see, it can take nearly a decade to become a priest.
Academically, priests are put through two areas of study: philosophy and theology.
There’s a reason for this. Philosophy is, as I like to call it, “thinking about thinking.” We all think, but do we really think about how we think and about what we think? In Philosophical studies one learns about the different philosophies that have come out of various times and places over the centuries – and the issues and ideologies associated with them.
Now the reason that priests need to be able to think about thinking is so that they can understand themselves and understand others.
The second course of study is in Theology. Theology is the study of God. And since God is beyond our understanding, it’s important to be able to articulate what we know about Him, how we know it, and what it all means ... as well as to be able to know what we don’t know about God … and the difference between the two.
But that’s just the academic part. Priesthood is more about being than doing – although there’s an awful lot to do, even in the middle of a pandemic lockdown.
The key to any vocation - be it Marriage, Single Life, Religious Life, or Holy Orders - is found in relationships. Most especially in one’s relationship with God ... and how that is played out in our relationships with one other.
Another area in any vocation is discernment – trying to figure out what you want to be and why you want to do it. Discernment can be broken into two questions – What are you running away from? And what are you running towards?
Motivation is very important. And you can’t run away from yourself – because, where ever you go … there you are.
And hopefully in any vocation – marriage or holy orders – we are running towards eternity … Christ … and God.
In my own journey to priesthood, I started out as the middle of five kids ... the second boy. One of my first memories of church is running up the middle aisle toward the altar ... I was probably about four years old ... during a Solemn Mass ... so I could get a better view of what was going on up there.
A few years later, I joined the parish music ministry, and eventually ended up leading a music group. While at the same time, I was going through High School, and college, and university.
I worked for a dozen or more years at General Motors, Robert Bosch Corporation, and Ford Motor Company in Engineering research and development. For six years I served in the U.S. Navy ... most of them overseas in Japan in Naval Aviation and Cryptology.
When I decided to start studying philosophy and theology, I did it on my own at night school - while tapping into the GI Bill. So what you see before you are your tax dollars at work.
It hasn’t always been easy. Seminaries are for younger men. And I was already in my 40s when I was going through seminary. It was at times frustrating - probably for those in charge as much as it was for me.
I remember one particular mentor - who recognizing that we were the same age, told me he wasn’t sure how to mentor me other than to “walk with me as a brother in Christ.” That was a period of great blessing.
By the time I arrived in mid-Michigan, I had already completed degrees in Philosophy and Theology ... bought and paid for by my own savings and the Navy College Fund.
In 2008, I was ordained a deacon; and in 2009, I was ordained a priest. The ordaining bishop is now the Archbishop of St. Louis. He’s celebrating 50 years as a priest. He called me a couple of weeks ago to thank me for my priesthood.
Four years ago, I came to northern California, and certainly hope that I am running toward God in all of this. I certainly miss my family who are all back in the midwest; but I am edified by being able to exercise my priestly ministry in a fruitful and productive way. I came out here to be busy, and I have not been disappointed.
This homily is ridiculously long; and I’m not sure I’ve really gone anywhere important, or made any significant theological points.
So, the bottom line in all of this is that vocation is about listening to God’s call, and making sure you’re running toward God. Any vocation requires sacrifice, but despite the sacrifices, doing God’s will comes with enormous blessings.
As we continue in this Holy Mass, offering the Sacred Body and Blood, Soul and Divinity of Jesus Christ to God the Father in the power of the Holy Spirit; let us listen for the voice of the Good Shepherd, and in hearing His voice … follow Him wherever he leads us.
May the graces flowing from this altar strengthen each one of us in our relationship with Almighty God … Father, Son, and Holy Spirit … and with one another … and with all Christians.
